Review of Hacksaw Ridge (2016) by Ladolce V — 03 Apr 2018

The Jew-hatting director is back and it hurts to admit it's good!

Some people just can't separate the oeuvre from the auteur so when the author makes questionably bad decisions in his personal life or if he has a tough personality, his movies will suffer from it. I've heard some people say that they couldn't see a Woody Allen because "he's a perv" and some saying the same for Tarantino because he can be too loud (for me, he's the man!). I've never been one of this people but I do believe we have to take into consideration a filmmaker's life to understand his work. Thus, my perception of The 400 Blows wouldn't be the same without me knowing about Truffaut's childhood or Edward Scissorhands would be less impactful had I not known of Burton's inner struggles growing up. I truly believe that Mel Gibson is a despicable person and not that great of an actor... But, he's a talented director! Firstly, the film is based on a great true story that everyone should learn about which is a great structure to the fine script. Garfield is powerful and believable in the character, Hugo Weaving is menacing and, surprisingly, Vince Vaughn is a pertinent casting decision. What may stand out the most about this film is how Gibson constructs a battle scene. He does it without mercy, showing us the true nature of war, all the blood and guts splattering all over, the big explosions and the courage in the soldier's eyes. This, which is supported by thoughtful editing, rugged cinematography and convincing makeup/ SFX work makes up for an immersive experience that is both engrossing and hard to look away from. It's war in it's purest form, like I haven't seen for a while. The problem is precisely when the director's personality surfaces and lets his over-nationalistic pride take over the whole picture. In this day and age, I do think that we shouldn't portray enemies, villains, etc in any kind of movie as generic, as nothing more than evil. This dehumanization of the antagonist is all too problematic in this film, as the Japanese seem to serve the only purpose of being blown up. Furthermore, the stereotypically southern way characters interact, how they create friendships, how they fall in love makes it hard for me to relate to them. Still, the film hit me hard at the end when footage of the real Desmond Doss was shown and I no longer could fight the tears. It's like Gibson was able to pass on to me the ominous patriotic feel and give me a taste of what war actually feels like, which is no easy feat.